Vampire Caring for Pleasure and Profit

July 2014 Prof. Cassandra Lobiesk

Relatively speaking, this is totally possible in the Sims world. Your vampire is high maintenance, for sure, but taking care of her can bring about a more peaceful Sim neighborhood and much less people being bitten and turned into vampires. Or, you know, you can always turn the supernatural settings off. But why on earth would you? Where's the fun in that?

For this column, while I do apologize for not speaking about the rest of my Ravenclaw Sim neighborhood, I do want to focus a bit on the resident Ravenclaw draculina. Yes, you've guessed it.

Meet Maya Winters, moonlighting vampire and deranged mad scientist.

Maya did not start off as a vampire, oh no. In fact, I hadn't planned on turning her into a vampire at all (then again, I didn't do much planning when I created my HOL Sims neighborhood). But the next time I went to visit her household, what do I find but a bitten, pale-skinned, sun-hating woman? It was certainly a surprise.

After taking care of this particular vampire, I have come to realize that keeping vampires happy is a feat in itself. They're high maintenance, don't abide by the "human" rules, and have a completely different diet altogether.

Take the vampire diet, for example. They don't eat regular things. In fact, short of feeding on some poor human Sim blood, vampires eat only plasma-filled foods, foods that could make a regular Sim nauseous, so you can guess that this option is out of the question during parties. In Maya's case, however, this diet is even more particular, to the point where she will only eat plasma fruits and nothing meat-related. Because vampire-Maya is a vegetarian vampire. No, no, she doesn't sparkle or anything like that. But she won't eat meat infused with plasma, and I don't exactly think she will feed on regular Sims either (so they're safe on that front).

The solution to this? Keep a plasma fruit garden in the back. While Maya typically does not like the outdoors, she is more than willing to cultivate her own stash of fruits. In case of hunger-pangs during parties, I always make sure she has a pack of plasma fruits nearby, just so she can snack on it while she boogies.

Therein lies the problem, however. Staying outside is one thing, but staying outside in the sun could mean disaster for our favorite HOL vampire.

In fact, stay out in the sun for too long and you get a sunburnt vampire. No, seriously, they pass out and everything! It is an accepted fact that vampires are nocturnal creatures, and Maya is no exception to this rule. She detests being out in the sun, and will find some way to escape it when she can. That said, with Zoki having installed a new pool in her backyard, frolicking in the sun is almost a requirement--almost.

So what else could the vampire do for fun, if spending time in a pool is too risky during the day?

Crash parties, of course! Maya loves nothing more than to show up unexpectedly, park herself in the nearby pool, and start playing enthusiastically on the drums. She's also no stranger to bowling with her current roommate, Sophia, and she definitely does not shirk from virtual reality.

The best part about Sim-vampires, however, would definitely be their vampire-like capabilities. For instance, they are relatively fearless out in the dark. No, seriously, they will pick fights with ghosts in cemeteries for no reason. They will proceed to lose that fight, and yet somehow come out unscathed (or relatively so). They occasionally stay out for quite some time at night, often frequenting the Vampire Lounge for some of their fabulous plasma drinks. Vampires also have some enhanced traits, like super-speed (which becomes useful running across lots), and levitation skills. And in Maya's particular case, she seems to be good at making friends, too.

Keep all this in mind, and you're several steps ahead in keeping your vampire happy.